Lucía Domínguez Alemán. 2º Estudios Ingleses. Textos Poéticos Británicos e Irlandeses.

Edmund Spenser’s “The Faerie Queene”

Edmund Spenser (1552/53 - Jan. 13th 1599) was an English poet whose most popular
work was the poem at hand, “The Faerie Queene”, an epic poem as well as fantastical
allegory that is one of the most relevant works of English literature.
“The Faerie Queene” was written by Spenser in the 16th century —in a version of
English very close to Middle English, though Spenser lived on a time when English had
already developed into Modern English, giving the poem an Old-fashioned sense— and it
relates in various books the adventures of different medieval knights each representing a
different moral value, like for example holiness (represented by the protagonist of book 1, the
Red Cross Knight). These knights serve the Faerie Queene, who is a symbol for glory and a
representation of Queen Elizabeth I.
The poem takes inspiration from the Italian romances in terms of its structure and
division, seeing as it is divided into books and cantos, and it is heavily influenced by the
work of Italian poets Ludovico Ariosto and Torcuato Tasso. Furthermore, it is written in
Spenserian stanza, which is a kind of stanza consisting of eight lines of ten syllables followed
by one twelve syllable line with a rhyming pattern of abab bcbc c.
This long poem takes inspiration from Arthurian legends and at first, it was intended
to be a religious, moral and political allegory with the intention of teaching how to live
according to the virtues explored in the different stories. The Faerie Queene was intended by
Spenser to be twelve books long, however, it was left unfinished and is comprised by seven
books instead of twelve, with the first installment (books I-III) published in 1590, the next
three (books IV-VI) published in 1596, and the first folio version of the poem published in
1609.
With respect to the contents and main themes of the poem, as it was previously
mentioned it tells the tales of nights that represent Christian virtues (holiness, temperance,
chastity, friendship, justice, and courtesy) who find themselves in situations that challenge
that same quality they represent. Additionally, the Faerie Queene herself (whose name is
Gloriana) is a representation of Queen Elizabeth I, and the poem questions her ability to
reign, although it praises her as well. Seeing as the Faerie Queene was composed during the
Reformation period in England, the poem alludes to several historical events of the time
concerning themes such as religion or politics, for example, much as he did with Queen
Elizabeth I, he both criticized and praised the Tudor House.
 As for the characters, aside from the previously mentioned knights that serve the
Faerie Queene, the central figure of the poem (even though he does not play the most
important role in the poem) is King Arthur, who is in search of the Faerie Queene after seeing
her in a dream. As for the Faerie Queene herself, she does not appear in the poem but still is
the focal point of it, seeing as the goal of many of the characters is to arrive at her castle, and
the knights representing the virtues all serve her.